Halloween Fun Began Today

What a day it has been.   Everyone was allowed to wear costumes to school today, as there was a large school-wide parade first thing in the morning, and then parties in each classroom during the day.  The girls were excited, until we actually got to school, and they realized that there were a few hundred extra parents roaming around, waiting for the parade to start.  The anxiety especially got to Colbie, who promptly decided that she was not going to walk in the parade with her preschool class, and of course...Addison followed her and moved to the sidelines too.  So, I stood with the girls and watched each class go around and around the playground.  Jake looked especially adorable holding his teacher's hand, leading his class around.  After the parade, I went back to the girl's classroom for their little snack party.   Every child had at least one parent there, so the room was packed, and all of the furniture had been moved around, and covered with table clothes.   Unfortunately, all of these things really upset Colbie, and she got herself pretty worked up.  Afterwards I quickly ran to Jake's room to catch the second half of his party (which felt really strange not having organized it).  It was ok...Jake was at the arts and craft table the entire time of course.

 

 

 

Then came the big Goblin Walk in our downtown.  We thought that if we arrived early, we could manage through the craziness ok, but the crowd was 3x larger this year.  All of us were overwhelmed with the whole experience...having to line up at each store for candy, and being pushed around by crazy parents, strollers and big kids.  We gave it an hour, and then headed home. 
The costumes this year should be explained...I hope that they change for tomorrow, but the choices for today were a 12 month size lion for Colbie (which Jake wore when he was 1), a 12 month sized elephant for Addison (which she swore was a koala, and which she wore when she was 1) and Jake wore his fireman costume from last year.  NONE of my kids wanted to buy a new costume this year!  It's crazy, but you know what, I love that they just went straight for their dress up basket instead of begging and whining to go to the costume store.   The funniest part was that Colbie insisted on wearing her pumpkin hat WITH the lion costume, and Addison had to wear her Santa hat with the elephant...sighhhhhh.

 We came home to find these amazing bags of goodies left from Grandma Lee Lee too...thank you!

Zoo Time With My Old Friend

One of my dearest high school friends moved back East promptly after high school.  We've visited each other over the years (and I even visited her in Germany!), and we've kept in touch, but it was an extra special visit this week when she brought her 1 year old daughter for a home visit.  We had a play date earlier this week, and then we also met them at the SF zoo today for some more play time.  It was such a wonderful feeling watching out little girls play together this week!

 The girls and I stayed at the zoo for a few additional hours today once Victoria needed nap time, and they couldn't stop smiling for the camera...love when that happens!!

Walk-A-Jog

It's has been a very busy weekend.   Today was the BA Walk-A-Jog...and it was a fun, but very long day.  As I was responsible for our classroom booth, we had to be there early to set up, and had to stay to the end to break it down.  Considering we were there for six hours, the kids did really well.  Jake had a blast during his actual run, and ran an incredible 51 laps in the 45 minutes they were given!!  The girls cheered him on and handed him water when he needed it.  Thank you to all of our family who donated to Jake's school for this run!

 

 The tired goofballs!

MPPOM Halloween Party

Back in August I volunteered to help out with throwing the Halloween party for the twins group that we are apart of.  Soon after, I realized that I was the only volunteer and that I would be throwing the party by myself.   So....I was given a budget and I got to planning.   Given the entire Peninsula as my location range, I opted for the good old Youth Center here in our town to keep things somewhat simple.  I booked a great Bubble Lady who we've seen at previous events, who engages the kids really well.  I found a high school kid who does magic on the side, so I booked him to walk around and entertain the kids for the first hour.  For the theme, I had to go with Charlie Brown of course, as our household is still obsessed with the Peanuts gang.   We got an amazing response when we put the RSVP up on the website, so the 200 spots filled up quickly.   The party finally came yesterday, and besides a chaotic hour of setting everything up (thank you Josh and Granddad!), it actually went quite well.  All of the kids seemed to be having a great time between all of the craft tables and balloon game corner.  The Bubble Lady put on a terrific show, and then all of the efficient multiples Moms came together and cleaned up in record time.   I'm exhausted, but it was a fun event!

The room set-up:  I painted a bunch of the Peanuts characters on foam core to help with the decorations, but also as something that the little ones could walk up to and touch. 

 

The party:

 

 

1st Grade School Picture

I just can't stop smiling when I look at this picture.   What a big boy my little Jakey is turning into! 
Grandparents- we'll give you your copy when we see you soon.

Jake is a Cub Scout!

Jake is now officially a cub scout!   Josh was a cub scout for a couple of years, and I was a girl scout, so it seemed like we had to give it a try with Jake to see if he would enjoy it too.  Reading through the Tiger handbook (that's the entry level cubs, all first graders), Jake keeps getting more and more excited about all of the projects and badges and pins and adventures that he will soon be apart of with his new "den".   I finally went to a meeting with him this evening (Josh and I will likely trade off, which seems like what most families are doing), and boy was it chaos!  Apparently there is a very large Tiger class this year in comparison to recent years past, so getting and keeping the room quiet was quite the challenge.   Jake's Tiger den received their first badge this evening, and the ceremony included the parents painting their son's face in a specific pattern, with each color representing things like courage, purity, nature, etc.  Jake then painted my nose white too.  To finish off the pack meeting, there was a pumpkin decorating contest...and of course...which super creative and artistic kid won the pumpkin prize...Jake!!!   Gotta love this kid!

 

 

Check out this one of Josh as a cub scout back in the day!